PROJECTS AND OBSESSIONS

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What’s All This, Then?

Link En Fuego is a repository of arbitrarily random (and often useful) links that I found on my many web forays. The subject can range from Dada to dabberlocks, Dacron to ducksauceology.

I opened it because I believe that “it [is] worth pursuing every disparate field [of knowledge] precisely because the fields were not disparate, but branches of knowledge intimately connected to one another…”

Beer and Blog is undoubtedly the best way to meet members of this growing community in an informal, relaxed environments—if by “informal” and “relaxed” you mean “meeting local Tweeters and bloggers that you followed and subscribed to 24/7, but could only see in 48×48 pixel avatars.”

Sure, you can blog about aprons every single day, but people want to see something more. They want to see the humanity of it. At the same thing, though you shouldn’t hit that ‘humanity’ every single time.

What is your voice?
How are you doing it?
And is there humanity behind that blog?

Rick Turoczy talked to me before I went to talk to you guys: in my blog, I’m known as this potty mouth individual who talks about sex all the time. Well, this is my character. On your blog, the way you write every post is your character.

Also, who are commenting on your blog? They are your characters, too, because they come into your life. Don’t forget to respond to every comment; and if you can blog your reactions—even better. People love a shout out, and it adds to the blog’s character.

And don’t forget to comment on other people’s blog. I have to admit that I haven’t done this regularly. It’s really important.

There is humor, and then there’s irony. It’s a touchy thing, but try irony a little bit. Irony is simply when you say one thing and mean the opposite.

There’s also setting. My blog is set in St. Johns. Need an idea for setting? Look outside your blog—literally: outside your window.

The other blog that I love is boos on powerlines. The blog contains nothing but this guy in his late 20’s, who fixed his motorcycle and was pissed at her girlfriend who just broke up with her—nothing else. To me it’s compelling to see the movement of his motorcycle. It’s almost as if you really want to know what’s going on with the person that day.

The other thing that is really important: shiny things. People love shiny things on their blogs.

*** END EVENT NOTATION ***

Technicality: ☝Translation: Geek talk happened before and after the presentation.

This post was originally titled “Why not everybody should attend Cre8Camp.” In it, I detailed how only creatives who are ready to embrace change and open their minds should attend this Saturday’s event. Under this premise, folks who like to boast that “my agency can beat your agency” under a sophisticated veneer should stay home.

As time went by, the post title was tweaked to “Why everybody should attend Cre8Camp.” The draft was reviewed as I thought about how open or closed this Saturday’s camp would be, to various audience and familiarity with the BarCamp model.

I always thought that “Creative” and “Tech” were two different worlds: two landmasses that somehow needs to be bridged. I wrote about it. I talked about it to friends and people I met at various events: about how I wanted to “make creatives more open by introducing them to the vibrant, local tech community.”

It’s all good. But I was completely wrong.

If I want to help bring two communities together, I have to stop looking at their differences. I may even have to stop thinking of them as “two communities.”

Duh.

Because we all love unusual challenges that would scare most people away. We enjoy inspiring conversations. We learn the most profound things from the most mundane places. We always have one or two side projects on our bags. We enjoy good food, good beans, and good drinks (preferrably local.) We work late. We sleep little. We believe that sparks can happen when a group of people meet together to work on something. We play hard. We spend every bit of our energy in producing great works.